Jane Harman resigned from Congress February 28, 2011 to join the Woodrow Wilson Center as its first female Director, President and CEO.

Representing the aerospace center of California during nine terms in Congress, she served on all the major security committees: six years on Armed Services, eight years on Intelligence, and eight on Homeland Security. During her long public career, Harman has been recognized as a national expert at the nexus of security and public policy issues, and has received numerous awards for distinguished service.

She is a member of the Defense Policy Board, the State Department Foreign Policy Board, and the Homeland Security Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Trilateral Commission and the Advisory Board of the Munich Security Conference.

Harman is a Trustee of the Aspen Institute and the University of Southern California. She is also a member of the Presidential Debates Commission.

A product of Los Angeles public schools, Harman is a magna cum laude graduate of Smith College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and Harvard Law School. Prior to serving in Congress, she was Staff Director of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Deputy Cabinet Secretary to President Jimmy Carter, Special Counsel to the Department of Defense, and in private law practice.

She has four adult children and four grandchildren.

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North Korea's first successful rocket launch is a truly dangerous development. Although the North Koreans have previously detonated two nuclear devices, until now they have not demonstrated any ability to deliver them. Weaponizing a missile is hard, but Pyongyang's close ally Iran has made great advances in miniaturizing warheads. With the combination of North Korea's nuclear bombs and Iran's technology, a nuclear-tipped missile could be capable of striking the West Coast of the United States in the near future. We can no longer afford to ignore North Korea. more

"The referendum on Egypt's constitution scheduled for Saturday is a sign that Egyptians of varying views are finally playing politics, not just planning protests. Washington should embrace this in its newfound role of providing guidance without interfering. In other words, it should be coach, not captain," writes Jane Harman in The Washington Post. more

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"Online, we move too slowly and know too little to combat this generation of Web-native jihadists. We’ve failed to mobilize tech and messaging talent to counter the Islamic State on social media," writes Jane Harman.

President Obama is holding a news conference today to highlight his support for the deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson speaks with Jane Harman, a former member of Congress, about the deal and the criticism the president has received over the agreement announced yesterday.

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"It may be that Congress votes down whatever authorization makes it to the floor; it may be that members pass a measure that’s too narrow, or too broad, or too incoherent... But if we wage a duck-and-run operation, executed by half measures, our nation and our Constitution lose," writes Jane Harman.

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Recent events have threatened Iraq’s stability, highlighted the dangers of the Syrian civil war, and raised serious questions about how the US should respond to the current crisis. Join us by PHONE for this Ground Truth Briefing as we examine ISIS, the policies of the Maliki Government, impact of Syria on Iraq, and US options in response to these challenges.

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